Acronym NA
Category
Marine Biotechnology
Title Hydrogenperoksidresistens i lakselus (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) - Resistance towards hydrogen peroxide in salmon lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) Programme National Programme
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
NA
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
NA
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source National Coordinator Tor Einar Horsberg Coordinator email NA
Coordinator institution
NA
Institutions involved
NA - Aqua Competence AS (Norway) ,
NA - Marine Harvest Norway AS (Norway) ,
NMBU - Norwegian University of Life Sciences (Norway) ,
NA - Sinkaberg-Hansen AS (Norway) ,
Start year 2015 End year 2018 Funding (€) € 519,900 Website https://prosjektbanken.forskningsradet.no/project/FORISS/245373?Kilde=FORISS&distribution=Ar&chart=bar&calcType=funding&Sprak=no&sortBy=date&sortOrder=desc&resultCount=30&offset=0&ProgAkt.3=HAVBRUKS-Havbruk%20-%20en%20n%C3%A6ring%20i%20vekst Summary The Norwegian salmon farming industry is currently reliant on chemical delousing to keep lice numbers at the statutory level. Frequent use of only a few compounds has rendered salmon lice resistance to most of the chemicals available today. This poses great challenges for the aquaculture companies, at worst, they may be forced to harvest the fish before market size is reached.
Hydrogen peroxide has in many areas been "the last man standing" among chemicals for sea lice control. In 2012 reports of individual cases with reduced efficacy started to come from central Norway. The problem is still rather local, unlike resistance to the other delousing agents where the problem exists along the coast. There is therefore still hope that problems with resistance to hydrogen peroxide can be controlled.
To succeed with this, several measures must be implemented. Firstly, effective and sensitive monitoring methods for the development of resistance must be established. Secondly, the use of hydrogen peroxide must be coordinated with other measures against lice in an integrated sea lice management plan.
This project is a collaboration between a biotech company (PatoGen Analyse AS), a university (NMBU School of Veterinary Science), a fish health service (Aqua kompetanse AS) and two fish farming companies (Marine Harvest AS and Sinkaberg-Hansen AS). It aims to refine biological diagnostic methods (bioassays), develop high-capacity molecular diagnostic methods, estimate selection pressure for different treatment scenarios and implement knowledge in the companies' action plans against salmon lice.
Shortly before the project started, NMBU Veterinary School demonstrated that resistance to hydrogen peroxide was associated with increased expression of the enzyme catalase in resistant populations. This finding was sought patented by PatoGen Analyse AS (https://patents.google.com/patent/WO2016001295A1/en?q=hydrogen+peroxide&q=sea+lice&q=resistance), and a molecular detection method was developed.
In the project, NMBU has in 2016 worked to confirm this finding. An excellent correlation was found between the initial gene expression, the catalase enzyme activity and efficacy of treatments with hydrogen peroxide in the laboratory. A paper that deals with this discovery has been submitted for publication. The data is also used as supplementary information to the patent application. NMBU has also done an RNAseq experiment on H2O2-sensitive and H2O2-resistant parasites to check whether other genes may be involved in the development of resistance. These results are still under preparation. Furthermore, a search for SNPs that are associated with resistance has been initiated.
PatoGen has so far worked to validate their molecular biological assay against treatment results in the lab and in the field. The aim is to provide a clear prediction on the susceptibility status for parasites regardless of developmental stage. Work to correlate the expression level of the gene in different developmental stages of sea lice is ongoing, as this expression is not the same for all stages. PatoGen also conducting a survey of initial expression of catalase against treatment effect in the field. Field surveys are difficult to conduct and interpret because many factors can not be controlled well (treatment methodology, dosing, water temperature etc.), but the results so far show good correlation. Validations continue throughout 2016.
Marine Harvest, Sinkaberg-Hansen and Aqua kompetanse have contributed with assistance to field surveys, provided parasites for further examination and conducted some field bioassays.
Keywords
Genetic;
Open sea aquaculture;
Salmon;
Parasite;
Diagnostic application;
Fish;
Technology;
Marine Region
76
Not associated to marine areas
0
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